IWCE ~ Surtex Whirlwind

May has been a busy month with trade shows almost every week. First was the IWCE show in Vegas. We sponsored a Slipcover Showcase booth to show off the many talents of some of the countries best slipcover artisans.

I sent templates to some great gals all over the country and they sent me back the most beautiful slipcovers made with my fabrics.

The ingenuity and craftsmanship of these gals is amazing. People just flipped for all of the designs.

I took some really bad photos of them all but luckily my good buddy Kay Ellen was there with her fabulous photo skills and she managed to shoot a couple of good shots.

The Zebra striped Bergeres were a crowd favorite, possibly because people could sit and rest their aching feet!

Kay Ellen is a pro stager and she grabbed this pillow from another booth to show it off on the zebra ground. I think they look great together.

The Vanity table from Ready to Cover turned out so cute! I love the zebra hem.

Thanks so much to the very talented Teresa Bennett , Deb Fowler ~ Christy Statz ~ Kippi O’Hern ~ Emily Pettit ~ Barbara Roth ~ Linda Meeks & Jackie for making these beautiful slipcovers. I will be posting about each one of these talented ladies in the next couple of weeks so stayed tuned to see more of their great work.

The next stop was my debut at Surtex, the nations premier trade show for artists who license their work for surface and pattern design. Companies come from all over the globe to meet with artists and find new art and patterns for their goods. This is where designs for tabletop, wallpaper, fabrics, stationary, and much more are bought and sold.

Here I am in my booth. It was such a great experience and I learned a ton about this new industry. My daughter Angelica and the handsome hubby came with me to help and we all had a great time.

We tried to lure in attendees with lots of candy!

Angelica was a pro as always.

The handsome hubby and I went to the opening night party for the ICFF ( International Contemporary Furniture Show) at the MOMA Sculpture Garden and we had a great time. The ICFF and the National Stationary Show run concurrently with Surtex at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in Manhattans each year.

There were some really great booths at the show – so much talent and creativity! I hope some rubbed off.

Loved those paper pinwheels.

This was our neighbor from the UK, little Alfie. He was the show stopper.

We had great neighbors and met a slew of new friends and caught up with some old ones as well.

There is always a surprise every time I go to New York. This is what I ran across walking back to the hotel one rainy day. A Hawk just hanging out on the sidewalk. It was surreal. I’d always heard of hawks living in the city but had never seen one and I never thought I would see one just two feet away from me.

In short we had a great time as always! Here’s Angelica and her Dad drinking champagne at the MOMA! What a great time.

Now I am back home putting the finishing touches on my slipcover book that I have to hand into my publisher on Wednesday! More to come soon.

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Where did February Go?

 

I know I have been bust but I seem to have lost almost the entire month of February!  I cant believe I am halfway into March.  Anyway, we’ve been busy around here getting ready for several shows, new product lines and other fun stuff. 

 

 

I will be exhibiting for the first time at the SURTEX show in New York in May.  Surtex  is a tradeshow where artists and designers license their art to manufacturers for application on things like fabrics, stationary, table top, etc.  I‘ve been working for the past few months creating new designs and art to show.  It is exciting but also very intimidating to put your work out there for so many other professionals to see. 

 

 

 

I’ve also been working night and day finishing up my new book The Design Directory of Slipcovers.  It’s turning out to be a fun book and I can’t wait to see it finished.  (It won’t be on the bookstore shelves until 2012)

 

 

Here are some Parsons chair slipcovers from the book.  I desperately want to slipcover all of my furniture  but it will have to wait for the time being.  I still have more slipcovers to draw – no time for sewing right now.

 

 

In between those tasks I have been working on a super top secret project with the fabulous Helser Brothers.  Can you guess what it is?  I hope to have something great to show you if you are attending the IWCE show in Las Vegas in April!

How has your year been so far?  As busy as mine?  So far we seem to be off to a great start but I do wish that there were a few more hours in each day.  Let’s not forget to enjoy life as we are working our way through it.

 

~ Have a Great Day ~

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Finally! ~ The Power of Marketing is Here!

The Power of Marketing (A Guided Tour)

Hi Jackie ,

Marketing is too important to be left to chance; it is the driving force behind your company's success. A meticulous plan is critical to effectively communicating your company's services, priorities, and unique abilities.

As we've all seen, innate talent and hard work are not enough to sustain a healthy pipeline of clients. Every business needs to build brand recognition, expand their business, and generate substantial profits. So here are a few questions to ask yourself...

-Are you sure your clients know what makes you unique and of high value?

- Do you know what works, or more important, what doesn't work when it comes to marketing?

-Are there things that you could be doing to create a more balanced flow of income?

If you paused when answering any of the above questions, it is probably time to rethink the way you're communicating with your potential clients. The Power of Marketing by Minutes Matter will guide you through an intense four-week curriculum developed to inspire creative marking ideas and breathe fresh air into your business. The Power of Marketing reveals the secrets of three of the industry's award winning innovators, Debbie Green, Casey Green, and Jackie Von Tobel.

The weekly sessions are live and will include our unique Power of Marketing book in electronic format. Recordings of each session will be sent to every person who registers. Register by March 3rd and save $50. Note: Even if you can't attend the live sessions you will still receive all the recordings.

The Power of Marketing (A Guided Tour)

1st Session: 03.08.11 at 1:00 pm (EDT)

• The Power of Identity
  • Develop Your Own Pitch
  • Create a Marketing Plan
• The Power of Branding
  • Build a Strong Brand
  • The basics of fonts, colors and graphics
  • Branding everything from business cards to napkins

2nd Session: 03.15.11 at 1:00 pm (EDT)

• The Power of Successful Tools
  • Showing off your work
  • Storyboard - a new and innovative approach
• The Power of Publicity
  • Make yourself famous
  • Build your credentials
  • Showcase your talent
• The Power of Blanket Marketing
  • Magazines and newspapers
    

3rd Session: 03.22.11 at 1:00 pm (EDT)

• The Power of Generating Leads
  • Create a powerful and systematic referral system
  • Build partnerships with non-competing businesses
• The Power of Qualifying Clients
• The Power of Lasting Impressions
  • Did you remember my birthday?
  • Say thank-you in a unique way
  • Get that in writing
• The Power of the Internet
  • Websites, Blogs and Facebook

4th Session: 03.29.11 at 1:00 pm (EDT)

• The Power of Budgeting
  • How much money do you need to spend?
• The Power of Getting it Done
  • When will you be done?
  • How will you know what works?
    

The Power of Marketing (A Guided Tour) includes:

• Four live sessions
• Recordings of all live sessions
• Electronic Storyboard (in Studio format) (see preview below)
  
• Avatars (in Studio format) (see sampling below)
  
• Power of Marketing book in electronic format (chapters sent in conjunction with live sessions)
• Design Articles (for use in blogs, magazines or newspaper)
• Design Contracts
• Resource Documents
• Worksheets

| Preview of Electronic Storyboard |



|Sampling of Studio Avatars to be used in blogs, magazines or newspaper articles |

| Buy now |

Register before 3/03/201 1: $347 (Save $50)
Use Promo Code: POM50

Price after 3/03/2011: $397

Marketing is our passion,

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Shedding Some Light on the New Year

2010 was a rough year for many of us and I for one am really looking forward to 2011 and the chance to start fresh!

The New Year brings with it for me opportunities to design new products and work with new partners.

I’m working hard finishing up my next two books and my Bedding modules for Studio.

I plan to spend more quality time with my kids and my terrific husband.

I resolve to get more exercise, keep up my healthy eating and try to age gracefully for another year.

I plan to really try to enjoy every day to its fullest and not dwell on negativity.

I hope you all find your key to happiness and joy in 2011! CHEERS `:)’

* Lampshade slipcover images from The Design Directory of Slipcovers (available Spring 2012)

copyright 2010 Jackie Von Tobel

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Honeysuckle for 2011

Honeysuckle pink is the Pantone color for 2011! Luckily it is one of my favorite colors and a staple in the Jackie Von Tobel Collection.

Even Peanut loves it!

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Keep the Kids Busy on Thanksgiving

 

Check out this fantastic site  www.papertoys.com.   It’s a free site where you can download and print great paper patterns to cut out and color that turn into 3D toys for kids as well as adults who grew up loving building dioramas for school projects like I did. 

 

The Thanksgiving selection is good for a full day of occupying the kids while the Turkey is in the oven and the result will be a great table centerpiece that they made themselves. 

  

This is a site that really makes me love the internet for its ability to share creativity and good will which is in such short supply in this world. 

 

Many of the patterns can be downloaded in black and white so each piece can be customized in color by the builder.  I personally would have spent endless hours as a kid coloring and building these great models. 

 

Check out the completed Castle.

The US Capital

 

Shakespeare Old Globe Theatre.

 

And of course lady liberty. 

 

Let the kids go wild.  It’s free to download and only cost you the price of a sheet of paper and a box of colored pencils. 

I think this would make the perfect gift for your kids friends -  print out a selection of these, throw in a box of pencils, a bottle of glue and you have a present that will give them hours of joy and entertainment.    Enjoy!

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Making My Way Back

 

You may have noticed my absence from the online world these past few months.  I’ve been dealing with a lot of stuff, much of it I am legally prohibited from talking about right now. 

 

It seems that in this highly competitive world  once you have earned some measure of success others may want what they perceive to be their portion of it.  Over the last few months I’ve gotten a look into the not so pretty side of corporate litigation.  The realization of what can happen to you in this world almost made me hang up my colored pencils and call it a day but my husband told me to not let what I am going through kill my creative spirit and I am taking his good advice to heart. 

 

It will be many hard months of work and waiting ahead for what I am going through but I am in a better place now to deal with it now.   In the meantime I am back and I will be forging ahead doing what I love – writing and illustrating my books that hopefully will help those in my industry do their jobs a little easier. I never got into writing to create some kind of empire or make a ton of money.  Publishing; unless you are a celebrity or fiction guru, is certainly not a money maker.  My goal was and still is to create a comprehensive set of reference books for the trade that will stand the test of time and provide a go to source for design inspiration.  A staggering amount of work goes into creating my books and every drawing is a labor of love for me.  I do this work out of a passion for design and my desire to share this passion with others like myself. 

 

 

To those of you who have known about my situation and have supported me and given me such great and reassuring advice I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I’m sure I will need more of that before this is over.  For now I am hard at work on my next two books.  The Design Directory of Soft Furnishings Volumes I & II.  I’ve been drawing slipcovers for a few months now and loving it.  They are still in the black and white stage but soon they will get a pretty new coat of color. 

I am going to try to get back into blogging regularly now.  For some reason I was afraid to blog for awhile.  I guess I really was in shock and didn’t know what to say.  I was afraid of saying anything that could inflame my already tenuous situation and I was also spending 24 hour days researching my case.  I have missed my blogging friends so much and the great interaction that we have and I hope that I haven’t let it go too long so that no one will read me anymore.

 

I hope we can reconnect and I’m looking forward to getting back into the blogging swing.

 

XOXO  Jackie

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